Dance 'Till You're Dead
by Astarael's Bell
Summary: Sue has found a new, totally sinister, method of destroying Glee club... But what has she really unleashed upon the world? And what does it mean for the Gleeks? Slightly AU. Will have Brittana, as all things should.


**Disclaimer: I totally own Glee... you know, on DVD. Not the actual thing, though. Don't own any of that. Nope. That belongs to that guy... you know, the one with the hat. Yeah, that one.**

**Dance 'Till You're Dead:** Prologue.

She taps her foot under her desk, staring irritably at the two faces before her. Dustin Goolsby is looking at himself in the reflection of a trophy perched upon the desk in front of him, an incredibly smug expression on his face. Sandy Ryerson is looking at Dustin, looking at himself. _Like an infinite circle of idiocy_, she notes with disdain. Sue really wishes she'd found herself better minions. If only she hadn't destroyed that cloning machine back in '97...

Her eyes flick towards the trophy polish on her desk, and she wonders if it will be strong enough to remove the imprint of Dustin's ego from her precious nationals trophy... Probably not. There's likely no way to get rid of the stench of pathetic desperation clinging to Sandy out of her office, either. The things she puts up with.

The sound of quick footsteps draws Sue's attention to the door – though Dustin and Sandy remain trapped in their staring circle. There's three quick taps, then a pause, two more taps and then...

"Dammit... guys, I forgot the rest of the secret knock. Will one of you just open the damn door?"

Sandy looks to Sue for direction, to which she rolls her eyes in disgust, while Dustin continues to admire his reflection. They can hear bags rustling on the other side of the door.

"... guys, come on. All this stuff is heavy... and I think that hobo from down the street followed me here."

Sue waves Sandy over to the door, then snatches her trophy off the desk with a scowl, causing Dustin to flinch in surprise.

Terry Del Monico shoves past Sandy and into the office with an annoyed huff, offloading two large bags and a pink cardboard box onto Sues' desk.

"God," she says, brushing stray hair off her face, "do you know how _hard _some of this stuff was to get? And expensive too, " she thinks for a moment, then adds, "You know, I better be getting compensated for all of this, or I'm not sharing the bagels. No way."

Sue stands and eyes the bags appreciatively, the evil look on her face made more sinister by light shining upward from the lamp on her desk. Her plan was all coming together so nicely, despite the idiots she has to put up with. She may finally crush Glee club once and for all. "You will be compensated, Honey Badger, don't you worry. Though in future, I expect the secret knock to be preformed properly. You're all like a bunch of children."

"Excuse me? I am assistant manager at Sheets 'n' Things!" Terry objects, indignantly. She is promptly ignored, and sinks into her chair. Easily defeated.

Sandy eyes the pink cardboard box hungrily. "So... we can have the bagels then?"

"Yes, you may." Sue says, quickly checking in the bags Terry brought. Everything seems to be in order... candles, incense, dogs blood, marshmallows, baby hair... It's all there. Satisfied, she turns her attention on Dustin.

"Sargent Handsome, did you get him to come?"

The Vocal Adrenaline coach smirks, leaning back into his chair. "Easy as pie. He's waiting for us at the Fountain. Poor kid was failing college anyway, he was only too happy to come back."

"Excellent. Putting up with you morons will be worth it when I succeed, and that club is destroyed. Now all that's left is your part, Pink Dagger."

Sandy, caught by surprise, looks up from his bagel. Sue really can't pick what it is, but there's something she really despises about him. Just standing near him makes her whole body scream in agony, at being forced to endure proximity with the waves of loser that pulse from him. She really wants his phase of the plan over with... oh God, he looks like he's about to say something...

"Excuse me, General Zodey-"

"General _Zod_."

"General Zod, now I'm just a little bit curious over here. Honey Badger had to get the supplies, Sargent Handsome got the boy, you're the leader with the plan... what am I doing again? You haven't really been clear as to what you wanna do with the Dagger."

"You play a most important part in this, Pink Dagger, don't worry. Just shut up, and eat you bagel." Sue gathers the bags off her desk and walks to the door. "Everyone meet at the Fountain in an hour," she says, then leaves them all with one last distasteful glance.

V^^^^V

Jesse St. James regains consciousness slowly, lifting his head to squint into the darkness. Something warm and thick slowly flows down the side of his head... he's bleeding?... how did he get here? He remembers sitting on the bench, waiting for Dustin to show... then there was a loud crack, his head hurt... then nothing... now he's here. Where ever _here _is. His feet aren't touching the ground, body suspended by his arms, tied above his head. Small lights flicker in the darkness... torches? No... candles. He's surrounded by candles, in a wide circle around him. There's incense burning too and... marshmallows? No, that can't be right. He can hear water running all around him... and voices in front of him. Frantic whispers in the darkness, words he doesn't understand. He tries to free himself, shaking his whole body to loosen the ropes, but they don't budge. Obviously tied by a professional.

"I think he's awake," a female voice whispers. Jesse freezes, listening.

Another, more familiar voice replies. "It doesn't matter, Honey Badger. Now move, before you contaminate my ritual with your failure." Is that... Sue?

"You know, I'm not so sure I want to do this... it seems... too much. Even for me."

Jesse hears an exasperated sigh, then, "Fine. Go then. You've done your part, Badger. I no longer require your services... or excessive nagging."

The first voice – this Honey Badger – makes a confused noise, then Jesse hears footsteps hurry out of the room and fade away, before he can even think of calling for help.

"Pink Dagger, are you ready for your part?"

"I am."

"Good. Sargent Handsome, get the marshmallows for Pink Dagger."

More footsteps sound. Something is dropped into the water, the splash hitting Jesse in the chest – and he realises for the first time that his shirt has been removed. The water is so unnaturally cold that just the few drops that hit him cause him to shiver. From the sound of it, he's suspended right above the water, too. Not good. Though if he manages to survive, this tragic story could do wonders for his career.

"Now, take these..." more sounds of movement, "... and hold them over the water. Yes, very good."

Finally, Jesse's eyes have slowly adjusted to the darkness, and he can see around the room. At least, he can see as much as the candle light will allow him. It's a large, stone chamber of some kind, with a huge, circular fountain in the middle – above which he is suspended. Water falls into the fountain from a large ring in the roof, like rain, making an ever-shifting curtain of water around the edge of the fountain. It makes it hard for Jesse to see.

Two manly, yet delicate hands are jutting in through the water curtain, holding some sort of coloured crystal in each one. Jesse can just make out the shape the man the hands belong to.

"Sargent Handsome, get me the knife," the Sue-voice commands.

Jesse watches a dark figure – most likely 'Sargent Handsome - move off to the side of the chamber, come back, and hand something over to yet another dark shape – presumably the Sue-voice.

"Am I supposed to drop these in the water?" Asks the owner of the crystal holding hands – this one must be 'Pink Dagger'.

"Not just yet, Sandy." The Sue-Voice figure walks slowly towards 'Pink Dagger', holding... holding a knife

"I think you mean _Pink Dagger._"

As soon as Jesse realises what's about to happen, he finds his voice and shouts for 'Pink Dagger' to move. But his warning comes just moments too late. The Sue-voice slips the knife somewhere into Pink Dagger/Sandy's back, and his body tumbles into the water, unmoving.

"Now, Sargent Handsome, lets finish this quickly. I have teen spirits to crush in the morning... and I need to send one my trophies to Poland to be cleaned."

The two resume their strange chanting from earlier, and Jesse begins to struggle in earnest. He yells until his voice is horse and his struggles almost break his wrists, but he can't get free. The crystals that Sandy was holding glow – one blue and one red – and rise to either side of the fountain.

"Remove the blue crystal." And a hand reaches in and takes the crystal away, leaving only the red one to Jesse's left. Suddenly, the water turns to bloody red – far too quickly to just be coming from Sandy, who's body is pulled to the bottom of the fountain, seeming to just disappear.

"Lower him."

_Oh please... no..._ Jesse feels himself drop slowly, icy red water meeting him on his descent. The candles around the room seem to flair to life, bright yellow beacons beyond the falling red curtain. The water begins to bubble as soon as his feet touch the surface, he'd think it was boiling if it weren't so cold. Slowly and painfully, the water passes his knees... thighs... stomach...

He struggles harder than ever, twisting and pulling and yelling.

Chest... neck...

And just like that, Jesse St. James is swallowed by the water. Everything seems so still under there, and he wonders if they have Broadway in heaven, as the last bubbles of breath escape from his lips.

V^^^^V

Sue strides over to Dustin and takes the blue crystal from his outstretched hand. She's going to hold on to it, just in case.

"So what happens now?" he asks her, watching the glowing crystal disappear into her tracksuit pocket.

She smirks, all victory and triumph. "Now, we wait a little while, and then you make Vocal Adrenaline the most successful show choir in history – crediting me for you success, of course. And you live up to you end of the bargain; you _destroy_ the New Directions. I cannot wait for that miserable club to be crushed out of my life. Ah, look at me, I'm actually shedding tears of victorious joy," She adds happily.

Sue Sylvester takes one last look at the Fountain before she leaves, a little bounce evident I her steps. Dustin waits by the fountain, checking his reflection in the bottom of the marshmallow tray.

V^^^^V

**A/N: Soooooo, first chapter of Dance Till You're Dead! This story WILL have Brittana, because no glee story is complete without it, you know. It's like having crackers with no cheese. Bleh. Unless you like crackers with no cheese... in which case... what's wrong with you? You should talk to somebody about that.**

**Also, this story isn't the kind that's supposed to be taken seriously. Just so you know. And it's rather AU.**

**Anyway, what did you think? Was it okay? Was it bad? Was it terrible? Did it make any sense?**

**Feel free to let me know, I'd appreciate it ever so much :)**


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